Perceptual Positions

Gandhi was highly successful at negotiating. He believed that India could rule itself while the occupying British forces believed that India was part of their glorious empire and it needed to be ruled by them.

When asked how he was able to be calm and deal with the tense times Gandhi would explain a simple 3 step process that gave him incredible insight.

What he would first do is to ‘go inside’ and find out how he was really feeling about the situation. Get fully in touch with his feelings and viewpoints. This position we call: 'Self'

Then he would imagine that he could see the world from the viewpoint of the British Officer that he was going into negotiations with. He would imagine seeing the world from the eyes of the British Officer and really get in touch with this different point of view. This position we call: 'Other'

From that perspective Gandhi could understand that, rather than the British thinking that they were an aggressive, dominating force wanting power and dominion over the citizens of India, he realised that the British Officer genuinely believed that what they were doing was right for India.

Obviously Gandhi believed that the right thing for India was what the people of India decided was right and not what the British companies and government decided.

So he would imagine seeing the world through this perspective, through the eyes of the British Officer and through the filters that ‘the British were there to help, that they were genuinely there to do good’.

Viewing the world from that perspective gave him a deeper insight and understanding into the mindset of the British, giving Gandhi the edge.

So Gandhi would imagine seeing himself sitting there at the other side of the table through the eyes of the British Officer.

And you can try this too. Take a moment now to practice this yourself...

Think of someone that you have had a difference of opinion with. Just as Ghandi did, first ‘go inside’ and find out how you were really feeling about the situation.

Then imagine you can see the world from the viewpoint of the other person, really get in touch with this different point of view.

When You Do This Imagine and Notice:

How do they hold themselves?

What is their physiology like?

What are their ways of thinking?

Their attitudes?

What beliefs do they have?

What metaphors do they use?

Basically everything you know about them, you ‘role model’ and imagine seeing the world through those points of view.

When you put yourself in their shoes and experience the world the way they do, this will give you a huge insight into the way that they think.

But this isn’t all…

Next Gandhi would imagine stepping out of that person into a third persons or ‘big picture’ position. So he could observe himself and this other person having the conversation.

This third person position is completely neutral to either point of view, just observing.

Add this 'Third Person' dynamic to your experience too. Watch the imagined interaction, listen to the exchange and gain an even deeper understanding, a valuable insight.

Recent research shows that effective leaders have an ability to see the world from these different positions. Being able to ‘step into someone else’s shoes’ is a quality of successful leaders.

The Full Technique:

First you ‘go inside’ and fully experience your point of view on something.

Second you imagine stepping out of yourself and into the other person involved

Thirdly step out of the other person and into the 'big picture' observer point of view

Finally step back into your own point of view and integrate all the understandings you have gained from the other person and the big picture

This technique will make you a better communicator, simply helping you to understand other peoples points of view or understanding where they are blocked and helping them to see the world differently…

Creating new reality tunnels is all about having More Freedom…

Money, Time and Geographic freedom. It’s about creating reality tunnels that are more enjoyable and make your life easier.

The Interesting Thing About Luck...

Professor Richard Wiseman, gave two groups of people who described themselves as lucky and unlucky a newspaper and asked them to look through it and count how many photographs were inside.

On average the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second page of the newspaper contained the message: "Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper." This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than 2in high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

He also placed a second large message halfway through the newspaper saying: "Stop counting. Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250." Again, the unlucky people didn’t have their Eyes Open to Opportunity missed it because they were still too busy looking for photographs.